Kelvin Clippies - pin badge issued by Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses, c1986
Ah. Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses, the short-lived and, if we are honest, unhappy offspring of the Scottish Bus Group in its dying days and formed from parts the long established Central SMT and Alexander (Midland) in the east Glasgow areas. Kelvin came into being in 1985 as part of the run up to bus de-regulation and by 1989 losses and the move towards privatisation of the bus industry saw it re-merged with Central prior to sale and eventual merger with stronger rival Strathcylde Buses.
One thing Kelvin had attempted, in common with various other operators, was to re-introduce conductor operated services using purchased second-hand ex London Transport Routemasters. This certainly introduced some interesting sights onto Scottish streets, if only for bus enthusiasts. I recall the afternoon when the first of Kelvin's arrived as I was with one of their senior managers that day and we went for a hurl in one. Kelvin's PR strategy included these badges for the "Clippies", the common nomenclature for bus conductresses (and indeed in my experiences for conductors as well) so here is one showing the competing services KCB introduced to tackle Strathclyde Buses 61 and 5/5A.
Kelvin Clippies - pin badge issued by Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses, c1986
Ah. Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses, the short-lived and, if we are honest, unhappy offspring of the Scottish Bus Group in its dying days and formed from parts the long established Central SMT and Alexander (Midland) in the east Glasgow areas. Kelvin came into being in 1985 as part of the run up to bus de-regulation and by 1989 losses and the move towards privatisation of the bus industry saw it re-merged with Central prior to sale and eventual merger with stronger rival Strathcylde Buses.
One thing Kelvin had attempted, in common with various other operators, was to re-introduce conductor operated services using purchased second-hand ex London Transport Routemasters. This certainly introduced some interesting sights onto Scottish streets, if only for bus enthusiasts. I recall the afternoon when the first of Kelvin's arrived as I was with one of their senior managers that day and we went for a hurl in one. Kelvin's PR strategy included these badges for the "Clippies", the common nomenclature for bus conductresses (and indeed in my experiences for conductors as well) so here is one showing the competing services KCB introduced to tackle Strathclyde Buses 61 and 5/5A.